The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-10-09
OPEN VENIRE.

OF the many legislative and judicial
wrongs visited upon the people of Utah
in an effort to cure fancied evils there is
none greater than the open venire. It
best the rule by whichthe selection of a
jury, either civil or criminal, is left to
one man, is susceptible of abuse and
therefore inimical to good government.
An essential of respect for law scarcely
less important than the doing of justice
is the belief among parties litigant that
! justice has been done. And as long as
the loose method of permitting a single
official to present to the court only such
persons as he may select leaves open the
door of Venality, of prejudice and of
favor, just so long will unsuccessful
litigants refuse to believe that the scales
of Justice are balanced or that the God
dess herself is blinded.
But where, as in this Territory, the
open venire affords SO many opportun-
tiles of abuse its application is wholly
indefensible. To the casual ob-
server even, to the tourist of
day, the intense feelings of an
tipathy with which the Mormon
people are regarded by many of their
local opponents is apparent. Such
antipathies are of course wholly incom-
patible with justice; and yet it is those
generally who are the most violent
enemies Of Mormonism, people who
enter into crusade which others have
too much humanity, too much self-re-
spect, too much honor and justice to
seek, that are called upon to select
juries for the trials of Mormons. Is it
the desire of the people of these United
States that hatred should supplant JUS
tice? They probably desire sternness, but
do they sanction malignancy.
Reflect, too, that this inclination to
"cinch" Mormons is not without abund-
ant opportunity of indulgence. The
great bulk OF the criminal business be-
fore the courts is furnished by polyg-
amy and unlawful Capitalization, or by
acts growing directly out of these legis-
lstive offenses. How, then, is justice
Handicapped, or. to state it most mildly
open 10 the suspicion of being handi-
capped?
The right of trial by jury means more
than local bigots seem to conceive. 1t
is clear that the form of jury trial an
swears to them all the purposes OF
the genuine article. The Mormons
should not complain, they say,
for do we not in every instanc. bring
you before a jury of your fellow Gill
zens? Well, yes, you do. But such
| jury! They are as rule enemies of the
| Mormon system root and branch. They
are not only opposed to polygamy,
which has been made a CT me, but
they are also bitter opponents of an
alleged church interference in the af-
! fairs of state, of Mormon unity and
CO operation, of Mormon theological
tenets, which are not enjoined by law.
| They believe, as a rule, that citizenship
should be denied Mormon, that the
Idaho plan" of DISTINGUISHING all be-
levers in Mormonism should beSen-
forced in this Territory. that no Nor
mon should be permitted to land at
Castle Garden, norto acquire land un-
der the land laws. They see nothi lg
sacred in Mormon worship; it'becomes
the object of their ribald jests. They
are The men who, almost without ex-
ception, are brought forward to sit in
Judgment upon Mormon offenders.
We presume that we should not COM
plain that Congress has prescribed that
only nom believers in polygamy shou d
sit oil polygamy cases, that the minority